One of the most amazing aspects of this Irish Indie Rock Band is the soulful vocals of lead singer Luke Mathers who sings with a level of passion and heart that makes Unquiet Nights a band not to be missed. If you are a fan of Rock music, then this band delivers on this genre on all levels. Our Webzine is extremely excited to have the honor to speak with Luke who expounded on many wonderful things about the band and their amazing melodic sound. Here is what formulated from our online conversation with Luke Mathers of Unquiet Nights
Isaac: It’s an amazing time to be a DIY artist/performer/band/musician. What do you enjoy the most about being an indie performer?
Luke: It’s important to press your advantage, whatever you‘re doing. Obviously that we can keep fans of the band updated 24/7 via internet is something we’re on a level playing field with major artists. I’m also encouraged how many DJs with genuine affection for music are getting jobs on Internet radio and running their own pod casts.
Isaac: If you had an opportunity to sign with a major label, would you sign now knowing you may have to give up some of what you have build up over the years about you in the process?
Luke: I’m usually a hard person to force into compromise about my own music, but I understand some compromises are necessary when someone is investing in a band. And that there are people who understand the business more than me. But I do understand how music is consumed and what drives a band’s popularity. I would never be forced into covering a song that I didn’t want to for example, as has been known to happen. Or collab with an artist I hated. But I think the material is suited to the scale of a label with reach.
Isaac: I remembered Simon Cowell from American Idol talking about the “it” Factor that makes a musician/band stand out. What do you think is your “it” factor that makes you stand out from others in the music business?
Luke: Simon Cowell is having a laugh with the name “X-Factor”. Perhaps he does know it himself as I wouldn’t call him stupid, only cynical, but no one on the programme has ever had a trace of the X-Factor, as Cowell himself defines it. The likes of Sinatra had long, enduring careers, a tireless work ethic and impossible standards. Now, for anyone involved with Cowell to get as far as a second single is classed a triumph. If Marvin Gaye auditioned for the show with “I Heard It On The Grapevine” they would bury his X-Factor and make him sing a cover of something RCA/Sony own the publishing to. To answer the question though, if I have an “it” factor, it comes from my own stuff and my guitar playing. I wouldn’t like myself on stage without a guitar, but when I have it, it’s a second skin. I don’t have the “it” factor Sinatra had, to be able to sell literally any song that came out of my mouth. It’s mostly in my own material that the “magic” lies.
Isaac: Why should music fans listen to your music? Describe what they are going to get when they listen to Unquiet Nights?
Luke: I hope the music can be enjoyed sonically for the casual listeners you need to have onboard, which is fine, I enjoy some bands casually too. But there is definite substance to the song writing, which will be rewarding for anyone who gets into our stuff deeply. You’re not listening to randomly assembled words, there’s meaning there. It’s like with a jigsaw puzzle, you’d be pissed off if you got to the end of it and there was nothing there to see. With these songs there is a real picture to be found, if you’re of that mind.
Luke Mathers of Unquiet Nights
(c) michela pelucca 2010
Isaac: Briefly describe your humble beginnings that led you to where you are at musically now.
Luke: I owe it, more or less, to seeing the HBO special of Roy Orbison called “Black & White Night” in the late 80s. I got it taped on VHS and spent the next years copying his every move. Springsteen was also backing him up so I got into his music too. I think I got lucky to have gotten into the truly great artists straight away, I didn’t expose myself to cheap music. Of course, this was around the time he died so I picked up the sense of loss/trauma needed to start writing songs! If I didn’t have that already…
Isaac: You have some strong iconic influences. Of these influences, which artist/band do you relate to the most and why?
Luke: I get the same thing out of Springsteen & Tom Petty more or less. I relate to their work strongly because they never got caught up in fame and have consistently stuck to the same principles as always, writing songs about what people do when they have nothing, rather than how to act when you have something. They drill their bands hard and are very productive, loads of great albums. I’ve followed Springsteen around Europe because he’s so good live. The Rolling Stones always defined a band to me, individually great and collectively much more. I’ve seen them live too and the cocktail of danger & sex is still there.
Isaac: Do you feel that Indie music gets the respect it deserves? Why or why not?
Luke: No I don’t think it does, although I’ve recently become encouraged that some great DJs immediately picked up our stuff and plugged it hard. In general though, it doesn’t get enough respect whenever you get magazines/labels who don’t want to be offended by having to open an e-mail from a band not signed to a major label. Also, some of the best music I’ve ever heard is completely ignored by mainstream. I know a guy called Declan O’Rourke who I saw a couple of times in Belfast, about who Paul Weller said he would like to have written “Galileo” if he could’ve written one song which wasn’t his own. He said this in the national press and as far as I know it didn’t create many waves. Not enough anyway, but between that song and “Sarah (Last Night In A Dream” you have actual genius at work, and for me there’s not enough attention on it.
www.myspace.com/declanorourke
Isaac: If you could change one thing about the music business, what would it be and why?
Luke: I wish they would sack the right people who deserve to be on the street for failing to invest in talent, and stop putting out Eagles re-releases to pay the deficit, making new talent suffer from lack of support. I wish it wasn’t necessary for the majors to invest obscene amounts of money in a new band, hence putting the break even point too high as to be realistically recouped on a first album, and meaning they will be dropped. They should invest less money in more artists overall, and allow the true talent to rise where it belongs.
Rodger (Drummer) of Unquiet Nights
Photo by Luke Mathers of Unquiet Nights
Isaac: Do you think in the near future that DIY artists/bands will be the norm and big record companies will be very limited?
Luke: No I think big record companies will always be the last to suffer in the music industry, and whatever way music is consumed in future they will buy a controlling interest in whatever prospers organically and gradually make it inaccessible to non-major artists, like always. Anyone who gets anything out of the music industry without being tied to a major really deserves it. It’s an achievement.
Isaac: What type of feedback have you been receiving about your music from fans and music critics?
Luke: Very positive so far, I was in another band who did okay before, but the strike rate of people who hear this stuff and are impressed is probably higher. But it’s still early. Some people have said very nice things on their radio shows.
Isaac: If you knew that you would never gain fame and fortune with what you are doing now, would you continue to make music? Explain.
Luke: Yeah. It’s the only time I feel like I’m doing what I’m definitely supposed to do. The English poet William Blake said something along the lines of, if an artist doesn’t exercise their creativity they will experience “frustration in life and shame in death”. I’ve always felt that, always. Some of my darkest depressions have been at times of losing focus on song writing. It helps to have an alternative income which doesn’t kill your soul in the process. I found something which helps not to depend solely on music for an income, which really freed me. If it was all about fame and money, we could pander to that far more. But it’s not. Gotta be able to look in the mirror at night and not hate what’s looking back.
Isaac: How do you handle negative feedback or negative energy about your music?
Luke: It doesn’t really matter so long as there are enough people liking it to keep moving forward. A lot of people don’t really deserve to have an opinion on music anyway, they like what they’re told to like in adverts. If someone who’s opinion on music I really respected told me the band were useless I would be gutted though. Sometimes the song becomes bigger than your own ego and you just know it was meant to be written, and that’s all there is to it.
Isaac: What role do your family and friends play in the equation of your pursuant of a music career?
Luke: The family issue is too broad a question to deal with. Some are hugely supportive, and get excited to hear something’s going well for me, some really really aren’t impressed. As for friends, I’ve surrounded myself with a sounding board for my ideas and demos. Some of them are strongly supportive and pushed me hard to keep recording the songs I was writing, whenever I was going through periods of de-motivation. I could thank them but I don’t want to leave anyone out. The song “We Were The Ones” is about the rare connection between people trying to make it in the creative arts. It’s totally autobiographical, and is about a specific music venue, and some people I met there. Bands, singers, comedians, survivors.
Isaac: What is the best site/s that you can be found on the Internet?
